What do we know about sharing? The growing popularity of social media brought this phenomenon to the new level, as the speed of the information spreading and the audience coverage raised repeatedly. However, what is the role of sharing in more private conversations and how it can be used?
Actually, every talk between two people is sharing some information, but words only is a too limited way of providing someone with a needed message or data. In this case, adding some visualisation to the dialogue can be a breath of fresh air. All these words above seem to be obvious and unnecessary, but they help to understand why Crankwheel became popular. We’ve talked to 45-years old Gilsi Sigvaldason, CCO and co-founder of this company, to know more about their solution and business in general.
What is Crankwheel?
“We are providing a screen-sharing specifically for telesales,” began Gilsi Sigvaldason about the activity of Crankwheel. “Our goal is to add screen-sharing value in the sales. Those who are trading via phone calls, usually are soliciting or committing a target person to book some date for the meeting, where the presentation of the product will be made appropriately. As our technology supports every browser and every mobile device, one can dive into the selling process much quicker. Thus, a manager installs our solution, but then he or she can connect to their client’s screen in less than 10 seconds. It allows showing a presentation of the product or solution on almost any screen immediately, which makes the first contact much warmer and effective.”
In order to explain why such a feature may be valuable, Crankwheel’s co-founder gave a bit wider explanation. “It is difficult enough to get people on the phone, nothing to say about setting additional personal meetings. So, if a sales manager receives a possibility to provide the presentation right during the call, it significantly increases engagement of the potential lead and the overall result. With our help, it can be done on any device without additional installations from the side of an eventual customer. The targeted client has just to open one link and will see a well-prepared visual message on the appropriate screen.”
From talking to presentation in one click
According to Gilsi, the last aspect plays a vital role in the solution they develop and currently offer. “No need to install additional soft on the side of potential customers is a key aspect. We can do this because we don’t cover audio and video. The reason behind it is related to avoiding complicated things, which can lead to losing the ability to support screen-sharing in every device. If you can provide a remote presentation to the customer – you have to use every device and any opportunity.”
“If you can provide a remote presentation to the customer – you have to use every device and any opportunity.”
Gilsi Sigvaldason
Obviously, the interviewee knows his target audience and how phone-sales are working. “All this is designed to simplify the process at the beginning of the conversation, as in sales, it’s a crucial aspect not to make things too complicated. It reduces uncomfortable discussions like ‘Oh, you don’t have Skype. Oh, you don’t have some other program.’ Crankwheel allows managers working on any client’s device without additional movements and provide presentations and full-fledged meetings any time without heavy preparations.”
Skype is not a competitor for Crankwheel
Another essential element of Crankwheel’s success is their narrow direction, where Skype and other world-known programming solutions are ineffective. “I wouldn’t say that our potential customers are the people that use Skype or suchlike application, as these tools are used when the contact between sides is closer and the meeting is discussed in advance. Our app is more for the managers that are just calling you with some selling propositions, and the need of showing a presentation usually appears during the first conversation itself. So, we help them to realise the appropriate presentation comfortably as we support every browser and every device. If we add audio and video abilities to our solution, we will lose the unique ability to reach out to everybody in the fast possible way, which is needed in telesales.”
Pain helps to create an effective solution
It is always interesting to know how the startup’s idea appeared, and Gisli gladly shared preconditions that led to Crankwheel creation. “One of the co-founders has a background of working in Google for ten years, while I have an experience in selling insurances for 15 years. My work was to drive 500 kilometres to show a prospect to the client on my computer screen. One of the problems was that not all the clients had enough technical background and experience to ask them to use some kind of soft for remote conversation. As I participated in a few startups, at some point, I decided to do something private, and I knew all the pains of suchlike managers. So, from the beginning, we wanted to make something easy for usage, some sort of screen-sharing solution. Our decision to skip audio and video was also dictated by the experience to skip all the possible technical complications for easier usage.”
Telesales rely on immediate reaction
In such a narrow sphere, Crankwheel seems to be a really unique and useful application. “For all the telesales people in the world today, we are the only who makes it possible a connection with customers without distracting technical issues. We have companies that use our app a hundred times a day, and now they are ready to more effective presentations without additional preparations. Our technology allows something like sitting next to your customer. In sales, a wow-effect should be consolidated immediately, and our solution increases chances for a positive outcome compared to emails or booking of further meetings.”
“In sales, a wow-effect should be consolidated immediately, and our solution increases chances for a positive outcome compared to emails or booking of further meetings.”
Gilsi Sigvaldason
While explaining how Crankwheel is changing the world, the interviewee smoothly switched to the reasons why this business direction is profitable and prospective. “I think that telesales are increasing and we are just making them more effective. Also, the method we are using has never been done and realised before in telesales. For instance, I’ve never met such a flexible tool for realising the right impression so quickly via immediate presentations. It was always working throughout additional bookings and meetings, while people prefer presentations at the moment.”
The second contact after the call is too implicit
Continuing the description of Crankwheel success, Gilsi defined two reasons why immediate presentations are inevitable nowadays. “Firstly, people who booked a meeting may say ‘no, thanks’. Secondly, you have to send an invite, download something for someone, prepare a presentation. It’s ridiculous. So, with our solution, no one needs to postpone the meeting and use only a telephone to make telesales much more effective.”
How the product itself changes the role of investors?
The next subtopic we discussed with the interviewee was the theme of investors and how startups should deal with potential financial help from aside. “We had only some governmental support, which is dedicated to helping startups,” began Gilsi. “It is called Icelandic Startups, which is the program supported by the Arion bank. They helped to develop the product and go to market with it. Also, we got the grant from Technology Development Fund. What relates to investors, we didn’t have connections with any. We are taking money from the customers from the first day, and it was our goal from the beginning – to get money from the companies. It is much better than getting money from investors.”
Even though the desire to exclude outside investments is commendable, it’s hard to develop a new idea without appropriate financing. Crankwheel’s co-founder explained how he looks at this issue:
“Actually, almost everything depends on the product. Thus, our solution was rather relevant to different firms from the beginning. However, if you want to go fast, you have to raise funds from outside. There are so many startups that involved money but did not make a relevant product and market proposition. So, one has to understand that money are needed for the growth, but the product should be as close to the real market value as it is possible.”
The next subtopic we discussed with the interviewee was the theme of investors and how startups should deal with potential financial help from aside. “We had only some governmental support, which is dedicated to helping startups,” began Gilsi. “It is called Icelandic Startups, which is the program supported by the Arion bank. They helped to develop the product and go to market with it. What relates to investors, we didn’t have connections with any. We are taking money from the customers from the first day, and it was our goal from the beginning – to get money from the companies. It is much better than getting money from investors.”
Even though the desire to exclude outside investments is commendable, it’s hard to develop a new idea without appropriate financing. Crankwheel’s co-founder explained how he looks at this issue:
“Actually, almost everything depends on the product. Thus, our solution was rather relevant to different firms from the beginning. However, if you want to go fast, you have to raise funds from outside. There are so many startups that involved money but did not make a relevant product and market proposition. So, one has to understand that money are needed for the growth, but the product should be as close to the real market value as it is possible.”
“One has to understand that money are needed for the growth, but the product should be as close to the real market value as it is possible.”
Gilsi Sigvaldason
Who are the customers of Crankwheel and where they come from?
As Gilsi sounded so confident about their solution and customers they got from the early beginning, we asked about their first client and selling specifics in general. “We launched in 2015, and our first paying customer was a telecom company from Iceland. Moreover, they are still our clients. If describing our ideal customer, it should be someone who sales complicated things via telephone and can demonstrate product with screen-sharing option. In practice, we have a lot of clients from the Yellow Pages Industry.”
When we asked the interviewee to share particular selling methods, he made an emphasis on a long-lasting strategy related to SEO and blog posts. “A lot of traffic comes from there, and if you are doing things well, they will be helping you for a long period of time.” If we transform those pretty words into numbers, Crankwheel has “about 40,000 installs and more than two thousand unique clients,” which is a notable result.
A small but international team
What is interesting, a pretty small team is standing behind the overall success. “We have only seven employees, but we like working together and changing the world. The co-founder and I were from the beginning. As Orange Sputnik operates from Ukraine, it may be interesting for you that we have one employee even from your country.”
It is not a secret that European startups hire remote software developers from Ukraine, but in the case of Crankwheel things were not so obvious. “This guy has been working for three years in our company in the customer success department. He started part-time and was checking software. As we support every browser and every device, we have to check it out a few times a month to be sure that we promise the quality that will not fail. What relates to coding, we try to employ local engineers, and they are under the control of one of the founders, who is a software developer himself.”
Success metrics are tightly related to the overall effectiveness
Amid the traditional questions we ask startuppers, the issue of success measuring is an obligatory one. Gilsi started with a quite predictable answer. “I usually relate success to how many people are using Crankwheel. As a rule, I check those numbers a few times a week.” However, that was only the beginning of the story, and the interviewee continued:
“Also, we pay attention to how people are engaged. We have even some intrinsic protocol which is a part of Crankwheel, where we measure the speed of handling with the leads and how many those leads called directly to a presentation. It means that after the conversation began, the algorithm analyses the dialogue and prepares the further connection for showing a presentation. The manager doesn’t have to resketch or something like that, which is combined with our rule to keep the response time less than ten seconds. So, when two sides are connected via phone, we try to eliminate the time needed for resketching meetings and postponing a sales dialogue.”
One telesale can be done in a minute?
It was twice pleasant when Gilsi continued talking about the details after the question about the most exciting aspect related to traction. “In my opinion, it’s about how we have done the instant demos. I love our growing month by month, including both revenues and number of users. Those instant demos we launched not so long ago, and it’s fun to see the percentage of leads coming in, handled within seconds, and going to presentations. This is all happening maybe within a minute, while a similar result can come within weeks using traditional approaches.”
Crankwheel’s co-founder explained this agile method of getting customers by combining simple psychology and big data analysis. “Everything happens pretty fast today, and sales are not an exclusion. Managers have to capture potential leads quickly, but booking a meeting and related processes seem to be slowed down unnecessary. So, we try to make it very competitively. For instance, if a potential lead is not captured in the first 60 seconds, it usually goes away. And those analytical aspects are inbuilt in our product, which helps in telesales in practice.”
“If a potential lead is not captured in the first 60 seconds, it usually goes away.”
Gilsi Sigvaldason
Plans to be consistent in terms of quality
As the conversation with Gilsi Sigvaldason took place before the COVID-19 pandemic, current plans of Crankwheel may differ. However, his answer was more about the strategy and how to deal with the workload. “I will be happy achieving 100% growth during this year. We are bootstrapped, and we are profitable, so we have the right way of life, but we always have to do things at the right time. We don’t have to run like in the hell doing things badly. It’s hard to do everything quickly and to do it well at the same time.”
How can competitors help a startup?
We also asked to share the vision of the whole sector Crankwheel is working in, and Gilsi Sigvaldason gave a bit unexpected answer. “I think that telesales will not go down. From our side, we try to make phone calls more efficient. At the same time, I hope the market will be more competitive and more people will come in as it will help us talk a little bit louder about ourselves and this service. For instance, now we are also in the process of teaching those salespersons to use screen-sharing because far not everyone is ready to use this feature.”
Are programming and business can be combined?
One of our traditional appeals to our interviewees is to advise themselves but 10-20 years younger. Crankwheel’s co-founder surprised us and showed a pretty good sense of humour. “Can I say something obvious like buying Facebook or something like that (smiling)? If not, I would probably recommend going to programming and business development at the same time. People in sales have a lot of issues, so maybe doing something earlier to make the process more effective should be advised.”
A salesperson is also a vocation
Even during the personal questions, Gilsi Sigvaldason showed he is totally a salesperson. Thus, if not building this startup, he “will be selling insurance or pensions.” Amid the famous people he is following, our interviewee chose not the most popular but a true sales leader George Leith. What relates to the sales literature and books in general, Gilsi surprised us. Again.
“Like most salespeople, I don’t read a lot (smiling). Most of the sales books are lying. However, the most famous books like ‘How to win friends’ by Dale Carnegie are still relevant today, and this feature should be taken into consideration. It’s not something published in Snapchat two weeks ago and now is irrelevant. The book that was written 80 years ago and still relevant – that is a real achievement and quality indicator.”
“The book that was written 80 years ago and still relevant – that is a real achievement and quality indicator.”
Gilsi Sigvaldason
There are no doubts the Gilsi Sigvaldason is a dedicated salesperson. Almost all his career is tightly related to marketing and trade processes, and not surprisingly that he knows how to make sales better. Those who are working with clients via phone will quickly understand all the benefits of Crankwheel because this sharing application was naturally developed by salespeople and for salespeople.
